Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Boy Crazy: Unexpected Side-Effects of Having Sons

Something must happen to women with sons that desensitizes part of our brains. I originally thought the change to be a result of pregnancy, but it seems to happen equally for adoptive moms, so it's probably caused by an undocumented boy-emitted radiation.

For instance, I stumbled into this post (warning: don't drink beverages while reading this and you may want to don rubber pants if in the small-bladdered stages of pregnancy) and found it hysterical. So, I pestered friends and family with it, and almost universally the parents of boys responded with "hysterical" and a gross story of their own while girls-only parents said merely "gross!"

And, yes, it is totally gross to sneeze pasta, but when Mavis writes, "naturally he tried to eat it." I nearly blew out a lung laughing because that's our boy-parenting lot in life.

One hot but halcyon day we attended a wading pool party at a friend's house. At some point Ranger picked up a pita and snacked on it while continuing to run around the yard and play.

The pool water, pristine and fresh at the beginning of the day, had slowly turned cafe-au-lait colored by the constant traffic for muddy toddler feet. Ranger meandered into back into the pool from his travels around the yard and was holding a bucket underwater when I said "Hey, he already finished his pita."

Probably in response, he raises his hands from the murky depths revealing a last dripping triangle of pita. He pops it in his mouth before I can stop him, chews, swallows, and grins. I just started laughing. Sure, the thought of me eating that drippy pita makes my throat tighten up a little. But his audacity, indecipherable internal logic (the kid won't eat ice cream but pops dirty wet flatbread without any hesitation), and spontaneity are so surprising they simply delight me.

Jim reminds me that there is an interesting discussion of attitudes more common to moms of boys in Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads (a book I would recommend that every parent read and consider well before facing even the tween years). That discussion however might be bit high-brow for this particular post, so I'll save it for another day.

If you have hot weather, young friends, and a wading pool or sprinkler, then you have all the ingredients for a wonderful summer play date. Popsicles, bubbles, chalk, lawn toys, and dog are all optional.